Wednesday, July 20, 2011

The Artillery Book

It is a ~500 page paper manuscript from 1582 filled with sketches of bombs, cannons and fireworks, for the most part. The elaborate titlepage advises (thanks NINA!) that Litzelmann belonged to the Bavarian Armoury or Arsenal at Ingolstadt and that the secrets of saltpetre and gunpowder production would be revealed within.

There are no references to the manuscript or the author online and I would speculate that it is most likely a compilation of designs and recipes from earlier sources.[See George's detailed comments below]